FuelNinety
Fuel the Ninety
What to actually put on the plate — before matches, around training, and through the week. The pre-match meal gets all the attention, but the players who last are the ones who nail the boring days: day-before carbs, protein at breakfast, practiced in-game fuelling, and sleep.
Your numbers
Enter your details and pick the day type — the targets below then size every plate on this page. Carbs and protein are set per kilo of body weight, the way sports nutrition actually prescribes them.
Spread across 3 meals + 2 snacks. Carbs concentrated around the session — before and within the hour after. Daily fluid ≈ 3.6 L.
Estimates use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation plus football activity factors; carb and protein ranges align with the UEFA expert-group consensus (3–8 g/kg carbs moving with workload, 1.6–2.2 g/kg protein split through the day). They're a starting point: hold the numbers for 2–3 weeks, watch weight and energy in sessions, then adjust up or down by ~200 kcal.
Match day: the countdown
Everything is timed off kickoff. The golden rule: nothing new on match day — every meal, drink, and gel below should have been tested on a training day first.
The pre-match meal
High carb Low fibre · low fatBoring on purpose. White (refined) carbs digest fast; fibre, fat, and spice plus nerves are how pre-match stomach trouble happens. Modest protein, easy on sauces. Target 1–3 g of carbs per kg of body weight (75–225 g for a 75 kg player) — the middle of that range suits most. Hydration starts here too: 5–7 ml/kg (roughly 400–500 ml) in the 2–4 hours before kickoff, then drink to thirst.
Grilled chicken breast, a big serving of white rice, a little tomato sauce or soy, well-cooked carrots.
The classic for a reason — zero surprises.
White pasta with a simple tomato (not creamy) sauce, turkey or lean beef mince, parmesan sprinkle.
Skip the garlic bread and heavy cheese.
Baked white fish or a small salmon fillet, mashed potato (easy on butter), green beans.
Keep the fish portion modest — fat slows digestion.
White toast with honey & banana, low-fibre cereal with milk, glass of juice, 1–2 scrambled eggs.
For 12:30 kickoffs — dinner the night before does the heavy lifting.
The topper
Small & fastNot a meal — a top-up. If nerves have killed your appetite, go liquid: calories drink fine when they won't chew. Then, straight after the warm-up: 20–30 g of quick carbs — a few gulps of sports drink or a couple of chews.
One banana, sip 300–500 ml of sports drink through the warm-up window.
White bread, jam or honey, no butter. Half if you're feeling full.
Blend: banana, handful of oats, honey, splash of milk or juice.
The fix when solid food won't go down before big games.
Espresso, caffeine gum, or half a caffeinated gel ~45–60 min out (roughly 2–3 mg per kg bodyweight).
Responders only — test it in training first. Under-18s: skip it — caffeine isn't recommended for junior players.
Fifteen minutes, keep it simple
Quick carbs + fluidAdrenaline is high and time is short. Pick one carb source and drink — aim 20–40 g (the working total for a full match is 30–60 g per hour, and halftime is the main chance to bank it). An untrained gut cramps — practice mid-exercise carbs in training, never for the first time in a game.
200–400 ml. Fluid, carbs, and sodium in one.
The old-school option survived because it works.
One gel with water — only if you've used that brand in training.
A small handful (e.g. 4–6 jelly babies) with water.
Recovery window
Carbs + proteinMatters most when the next game is close — with another match inside 3 days, go aggressive: ~1 g of carbs per kg per hour for the first 4 hours after full time. With a full week to recover, the next proper meal covers most of it — don't panic about a 30-minute window. And match the refuel to minutes played: the 90-minute starter refuels hard, the 8-minute substitute eats a normal light day.
500 ml chocolate milk, one banana. Cheap, proven, easy to stomach on the bus.
Chicken & rice or chicken wrap from the post-match spread, glass of juice, water.
Whey shake (25–40 g protein) with a banana or handful of dried fruit.
Convenience, not magic — food does the same job.
Big plate: rice or potatoes, generous protein, vegetables. This is where recovery actually happens.
Around training sessions
Same logic as match day, smaller scale: carbs before, carbs + protein after, and use training to rehearse your match-day routine — gels, drinks, caffeine, timing. During the session itself: under ~75 minutes, water is enough; long, double, or preseason sessions call for 30–60 g of carbs per hour.
2–3 hours before training
Moderate carb- Tuna pasta: white pasta, tin of tuna, sweetcorn, light mayo or olive oil.
- Rice bowl: leftover rice, chicken or boiled eggs, soy sauce, cucumber.
- Bagel & eggs: plain bagel, 2 scrambled eggs, glass of juice.
- Porridge (evening session, ate lunch late): oats, honey, banana, splash of milk.
- If it's been 3+ hours since eating: banana, cereal bar, or a couple of rice cakes with jam. Otherwise just water.
Within ~1 hour after training
Carbs + 25–40 g protein- Chicken burrito bowl: rice, chicken, black beans, salsa, a little cheese.
- Greek yogurt bowl: large Greek yogurt, granola, honey, berries — if dinner is coming soon.
- Beans & eggs on toast: 2 slices, half tin of beans, 2 eggs. The budget classic.
- Chocolate milk + sandwich: for the drive home when cooking is an hour away.
The training week: fuel for the work required
The week isn't flat — carbs go up and down with the workload (the UEFA consensus range: 3–8 g per kg, moving with the day's demand), protein stays constant at 1.6–2.2 g/kg split across every meal. Saturday match assumed; shift the pattern to fit your fixture.
Heavy training days
High fuel- Porridge + eggs: oats with honey and banana, 2 boiled or scrambled eggs on the side.
- Overnight oats: oats soaked in milk with Greek yogurt, berries, chia — made the night before.
- Breakfast wrap: tortilla, scrambled eggs, spinach, cheese, glass of juice.
- Chicken rice box: rice, chicken thighs, roasted peppers, olive oil.
- Pasta salad: pasta, tuna or mozzarella, tomatoes, pesto.
- Jacket potatoes: two, with tuna mayo or chilli, side salad.
- Beef stir-fry: lean beef, noodles, mixed veg, teriyaki.
- Salmon & potatoes: roasted salmon, baby potatoes, broccoli.
- Chicken curry & rice: midweek is where curry belongs — big rice portion.
- Greek yogurt + honey · banana + peanut butter · cereal bar · glass of milk before bed.
Day before the match (MD−1)
Highest carb day- Pancakes: banana pancakes with honey or maple syrup, Greek yogurt on the side.
- Big porridge: large oats with raisins, honey, banana; toast with jam alongside.
- Eggs on toast +: 2 eggs, 2–3 slices of toast, juice, banana.
- Chicken & rice: generous rice portion, simple seasoning.
- Baguette + soup: chicken or tuna baguette, a mild soup, juice.
- Sushi box: rice-heavy sushi or a poke bowl, easy on the spice.
- Spaghetti bolognese: the traditional MD−1 dinner — big pasta portion, lean mince.
- Chicken & gnocchi: gnocchi in tomato sauce, grilled chicken.
- Rice & teriyaki salmon: large rice serving, glazed salmon, well-cooked greens.
- Rice pudding, cereal with milk, or toast and jam. Glycogen loading happens today — not at tomorrow's pre-match meal. Don't "eat clean" your way into an empty tank.
Light & recovery days
Lower carb · protein + veg up- Omelette: 3 eggs, cheese, spinach, mushrooms, one slice of wholegrain toast.
- Greek yogurt bowl: large yogurt, berries, small handful of granola and nuts.
- Smoked salmon & eggs: scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, avocado.
- Chicken salad: big salad, grilled chicken, olive oil, small portion of quinoa or bread.
- Soup & protein: lentil or chicken soup, side of cottage cheese or boiled eggs.
- Tuna & eggs: tuna niçoise-style — eggs, green beans, olives, small potatoes.
- Steak & veg: lean steak, roasted vegetables, small potato portion.
- Fish & greens: white fish or salmon, asparagus, courgette, a little rice.
- Chicken tray bake: chicken thighs, peppers, onions, sweet potato wedges.
- This is where body composition is managed — not by starving during match week. Wholegrains, beans, salads, and adventurous food all belong here.
Hydration: personal numbers, not gallons
Sweat rates in football span 0.5–2.5 L per hour between players — which is why "drink three litres" advice is useless. Fluid is personal. The zero-effort daily check: urine pale straw by mid-morning means you're fine.
~35 ml per kg of body weight (≈2.6 L at 75 kg), plus roughly a litre extra on match and heavy training days, half that on lighter ones. Food counts too — soup, fruit, and yogurt all carry water.
5–7 ml/kg in the 2–4 h before kickoff (≈400–500 ml at 75 kg), then drink to thirst. After the warm-up and at halftime, sports drink does double duty: carbs and fluid in one.
Weigh before and after one hard session (dry kit, towelled off), note what was drunk. (kg lost + litres drunk) ÷ hours = sweat rate. Test once in cool weather and once in heat, and drinking during games stops being guesswork.
After hard sessions and matches: 1.25–1.5 L for every kg lost, with salty food alongside — some of what you drink leaves as urine, so 100% replacement isn't enough. Finish sessions no more than 2–3% of body weight down.
Sleep: the other half of recovery
No plate outperforms a bad night. A growing player needs 8–10 hours (adults 7–9) — sleep is when the body he's building actually gets built.
Up at
In bed by 21:45 — 9 h (6 cycles) ✓ growing-player target
In bed by 23:15 — 7.5 h (5 cycles)
In bed by 00:45 — 6 h (4 cycles)
Sleep runs in ~90-minute cycles, plus ~15 minutes to fall asleep. Waking at the end of a cycle beats waking mid-cycle — which is why 9 hours can feel better than 9 and a half.
Adrenaline after an evening game fights sleep, so run the routine: refuel in the car, proper food at home, shower, screens down. Don't trade the refuel for an early night or the sleep for a screen — both, in that order.
One number each morning — hours slept — is the whole habit. The FuelNinety app has the nightly log under More → Sleep, and the weekly average lands on the parent report.
The rules that actually matter
Ten years of watching players get this wrong, compressed.
Distribution beats totals. 25–40 g per meal, four times a day. Breakfast is where most players fail — toast and cereal is near-zero protein. Fixing breakfast is the highest-ROI change you can make.
Every gel, drink, caffeine dose, and meal gets rehearsed in training first. The gut is trainable; an untested gut cramps in minute 60.
Weigh yourself before and after training. Every kg lost is ~1.25–1.5 L of fluid to put back, with salty food alongside — sweat rates span 0.5–2.5 L/h between players, so personal numbers beat any "drink X litres" rule. Cramping at minute 80 is usually sodium and conditioning — not a banana deficiency.
More players sabotage themselves chasing leanness than by overeating. An under-fuelled winger is a slow winger — and low energy availability is the fast lane to soft-tissue injuries and illness.
Creatine and caffeine have real evidence for football. Vitamin D in winter has a genuine case. Most of the rest of the aisle is expensive urine — and batch-test anything if you're near tested competition.
No plate outperforms a bad night. Protect sleep after evening sessions: a proper meal, screens down, and skip the Thursday drinks before a Saturday game.
The numbers are the map, not the test. Pro clubs have chefs and a nutritionist; a family has a kitchen and a schedule. Hit the timing and the plates most days — birthdays, takeaways and school trips happen. One off-plan meal never cost anyone a career; quitting the system because it felt like homework has.